


Of the Moon and Stars

by aria_vitali



Series: Collections of History Unwritten [13]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alcohol, Anger, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brotherly Love, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Loss, Love, Romantic Friendship, Sad with a Happy Ending, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-19 13:01:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22244806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aria_vitali/pseuds/aria_vitali
Summary: With a breath of respite comes a wave of emotion, unburdened by the urgency of duty.
Series: Collections of History Unwritten [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541752
Kudos: 6





	Of the Moon and Stars

**Author's Note:**

> I can just insert this in the headcanon timeline before Aria and Aymeric get together. Yes. That will work.

It didn’t take a genius to decipher that the events of the Vault took its toll on the Warrior of Light. From the way she appeared as she took in the late lord’s final moments, Aymeric and Estinien half expected Aria to run off and lick her wounds in secret.   
However, when she instead boldly vowed to have Ser Zephirin’s heart - as well as those of the rest of the Heavens’ Ward and the Archbishop besides - for what they had done, they stood aghast. It took the lord commander just a little while longer, but they both had come to understand the truth of the passions that she displayed: _Aria had been in love with Haurchefant Greystone._

Thus, with the Dragonsong War having come to its conclusion and Nidhogg’s shade was no more, there was time to process all that had happened and to wallow in the aches that had been unjustly brushed aside. It was in this notion that Aymeric and Estinien were called to the Forgotten Knight at the time in which the moon was at its peak. When they had found her, she had been nursing her broken heart with mulled wine, spirits, hard cider and mead and despite the quantity to which it appeared she had taken, she remained sitting upright with glazed eyes and flushed cheeks.

“Finally,” a voice called out to them.

When the men peered up, they were surprised to find an Au’Ra male clad in obsidian armor in the company of a young Elezen girl. The man eyed them with scruff while the girl had taken to hovering about the Warrior worriedly. From the delicacy in which they both gazed at her, the men presumed they could be trusted.

“Are you the one that sent the missive?” Aymeric asked politely.  
The Au’Ra nodded. “Aye. Would’ve done it myself, but I didn’t want to leave Rielle here alone with her if something happened.”  
The girl identified as Rielle looked to the man worriedly. “Sid, she’s not answering. What do we do?”  
The man known as Sid sighed and shook his head. “Send her home to sleep. There isn’t much we _can_ do, as drunk a mess she is.”

Estinien leaned in and prodded at Aria’s sitting frame with his knee.

“Hey, are you there?” the dragoon asked.

Aria blinked lazily before she shifted her head towards his direction. From the way she looked, she hadn’t even realized that they had appeared much less hear their voices behind her.

“Estinien,” Aria called out in whisper, then turned to his counterpart. “And Aymeric … what are you doing here?”  
Sid frowned and crossed his arms. “I called them here. To send you home.”

Aria eyed Sid blankly before she reached towards her cup and another bottle of wine.

“Just one more,” the woman murmured.

Sid growled and looked towards Rielle, who had squeaked at the sight of Aria attempting to pour herself another drink. Without even being asked to by her guardian, she had snatched both the cup and bottle away before it could be acquired.

“You’ve been drinking for the better half of four bells, Aria,” Sid chided with reproach. _“Enough.”_  
Aria frowned, her eyes glistening against the firelight. “Let me mourn in peace, Sidurgu…”  
“‘Mourning’ and destroying your body are two different things,” Estinien hissed, the harshness of his voice sharpening from his mounting worry over the woman. “We are bringing you back to Borel manor whether you like it or not.”

Aria made a sound that was a cross between a click of her tongue and a whine. Seeing no other way around it, she attempted to raise herself to her feet only to stagger back and forth. Seeing this, Estinien had managed to reach out and catch her by her shoulders before she stumbled forward and held her close to his person.

“Fury smite me, just how much did you have to drink?” the dragoon bit out.  
Aria grunted. “A lot.”

While Estinien appreciated the honest answer, he knew that she wouldn’t make it even three steps if he were to let her go. So, taking the initiative, he lowered himself to wrap his arms around the back of her legs and shoulders so that he would be able to lift and carry her against his chest.

“Lighter than you look,” Estinien commented in jest, earning him incoherent murmurs amidst the half-slumber the Warrior had succumbed to.

It didn’t take more than ten heartbeats before Aymeric and Estinien saw the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest and the way her figure went limp. Aymeric reached out to brush a lock of hair that had fallen across her face only to bear witness to sets of tears that had fallen as she slept. From the way the red rims and darkened circles underneath her eyes were coloured and formed, it seemed to them that she had been weeping all night.  
Fighting against the squeezing of his heart, Aymeric turned to Sid and Rielle and offered a grateful bow towards them. 

“Many thanks for watching over her,” he said on behalf of both him and his dear friend. “I apologize for any trouble she may have caused.”  
Sid shook his head. “There is nothing to forgive. No other’s heart has bled as much as hers. I’m rather glad we were able to help her release some of the pain.”

Rielle nodded, then looked towards the sleeping Aria sadly. When she seemed to have managed to gather her thoughts, she turned towards the lord commander and the Azure Dragoon.

“Please, take care of her,” she pleaded. “Aria is so full of love. She gives and she gives without expecting anything back. And then when the world sees fit, they take and they _take._ So, please. Please watch over her.”  
Aymeric nodded. “You have my word, child.”

With that, Aymeric gave one more bow and the two had departed with the unconscious Warrior of Light. The night was quiet, everyone either resting in their homes or scattered here and there near the taverns. The winds saw fit to remain a gentle breeze, allowing a soft sprinkling of snowflakes to fall from the grey clouded skies.

“Are you alright, my friend?” Aymeric asked Estinien. “If it proves difficult, I can take her halfway.”  
Estinien shook his head. “Allow me this, Aymeric. She _did_ save my life when I saw it forfeit. ‘Tis the least I can do.”

The rest of the walk to Borel manor was quiet, neither men saying anything nor needing to find it necessary for words to be involved. Having known each other so long, it was in the simple gestures that came in sync, the knowledge of the other’s habits and their ability to predict what move was to be made next that made tucking Aria to bed in Aymeric’s guest room to be easy and uneventful. When Estinien turned to take his leave, Aymeric pressed for him to spend the night considering it was already late into the evening. In his exhaustion, still recovering from Nidhogg’s possession, he couldn’t refuse.

So, the two men - changed into casual attire with Estinien having borrowed that of his friend's - lounged about the den to share a few drinks of their own. As Aymeric enjoyed his red wine, Estinien found comfort in the burning sensation of spirits on his throat. As the dragoon peered through the glass of the window towards the moon up above, he couldn’t help but scowl as he brooded with his thoughts.

“I do not like it,” he gruffed, pouring himself another shot.  
Aymeric raised his own cup to his lips. “Pray tell what it is you do not like.”  
“Seeing her this way,” Estinien answered. “Broken. Reminds me of when I lost mine own family.”

Aymeric hummed in response with neither of them noticing they had partaken in their drink at the same time.

“Indeed,” Aymeric answered with a distant longing in his tone. “Seeing her so torn when she had tried her best to remain smiling.”  
Estinien clenched his hands to fists. “But _why?_ ”

Even without Aymeric answering him, they both already knew. The Warrior of Light was, in the words of Haurchefant himself, hope incarnate; a torch lit so fervently in her hands that she couldn’t do anything else but run forward with it. Her devotion to their cause, the sincerity of her words, the humility and kindness that she showed all revealed a woman that has endured such tribulations. There was no way anyone could give as much love without having first experienced pain and loss.

How must she be feeling, they wondered. With Rielle’s words lingering in their minds, her sorrow became all the more clear. Aria gives much to protect and defend her home and its people in their time of need. She offers her aid to those that ask of it and even those that scorn her as they try to turn her away. In pursuing her single want, in a love that she felt she deserved not only because of her deeds but because she was also an imperfect being, the world felt the need to take such a blessing away. How traumatizing must that be?

“I want to protect her,” Aymeric stated, mildly tipsy and entirely under the influence of his own emotions.  
Estinien inclined his head. “Protect the Warrior of Light?”  
“I want to protect her _heart_ ,” he declared, gingerly placing his cup on the table before him. “To help mend, nurture and flourish so that she may continue to smile in all earnesty.”

There was a short silence that ensued before Estinien replied.

“Aye, I am the same,” he said.  
Aymeric frowned. “I think … I may love her, my friend.”  
Estinien nodded all the same. “I know. While I see her more of a sister, I love her as well.”  
“What do I do?” Aymeric sighed, running his fingers through his raven hair.  
Estinien shrugged. “Do as you have always done for me.”

This earned a mildly surprised expression from the lord commander, to which Estinien turned to him with a lopsided grin.

“Stick nearby and so often, she would wish she would be able to simply think without the thought of you crossing her mind,” Estinien answered with a chuckle, taking one more shot before he turned towards the door.

Before he left, Aymeric laughed and called out to him.

“Am I to assume you think of me often?” he jested.

Estinien waved without looking back as he motioned to retire for the night.

“Think of how am I supposed to pull you from the pits of trouble you are wont to fall into,” the man retorted.

Aymeric chuckled and leaned back against his seat. His eyes drifted towards the window to glance towards the sky. It was then that the man steeled his heart and found his resolve. He will be whatever manner of light Aria needed to rely on, both in the brightest day or the darkest night. 

  
Whether it be with the intense shine of the moon or the soft twinkle of the stars, he will be there.


End file.
